To the kindness of Mrs. Burns I am indebted for a record of the Gauntt family, which some time ago was published in the Bordentown Register. I am also under obligations to Mrs. Burns (who is one of the Gauntt family,) for some letters containing important items of the history of the various generations of the Gauntts. With these records and other items which I have procured from various sources, I have compiled as complete a record of the Gauntt family as the materials at hand will admit of; and perhaps the publication of this sketch may may bring out further information on the same subject.

"Very many years ago, when the Kings of England were seeking skilled artisans in the countries of Europe where the arts and manufactures were most advanced, because, encouraged by extraordinary privileges and powers, the ancestors of Peter Gauntt came from Ghent to Lincolnshire, in England. Years before the English settled in Nova Caesarea, Peter and his wife, Hannah, sore with the oppression and persecution in England, sought liberty of conscience in the province of Massachusetts Bay. There unfortunately, those who fled from persecution denied a like liberty to others who differed with them in religious doctrines. Peter's two sons, Hananiah and Israel, who had embraced the Quaker faith, tired with the persecution of those of their sect, removed from Sandwich, and with many other co-religionists settled on Long Island. From thence they came to Shrewsbury, where the first Quaker Meeting in New Jersey was organized, and there Israel settled on a large tract of land. Hananiah, after traveling through much of middle Jersey, came to a place called by the Indians, Haninilon. There, pleased with the fertile soil, the rich, broad prairie-like surface, and the quiet beauty of the scenery, he determined to settle. It was Springfield, Burlington county. Within one mile of Jobstown, in 1685, he took up a tract of 500 acres, which to this day, a period of nearly two hundred years, remains intact in the possession of the family. Hananiah was said to be a tall and powerful man, well educated, plain, sincere and earnest. With a mind capable of penetrating to the truth and right, he was of strong convictions, from which nothing but new light could swerve him. The improvement of his plantation, the education of his children and duty to his neighbors occupied his entire time. The year of his death is not known, but he and his wife and two of their children were buried on the farm, and the outlines of their graves are to be seen to this day, within a small enclosure, about one hundred yards from the southwest angle of Uz Gauntt's dwelling house. The soil is sandy around, but the graves appear to have been filled up with a different kind of earth, so as to show their forms very distininctly in wet weather. Hananiah married Dorothy Butler. They had six children, viz: Zebulon, Hananiah, Daniel, Mehetabel, Mary and Dorothy. Mehetabel married Thomas Staple, Mary, Robert Webb, and Dorothy, Edward Weaver. Daniel, says the family record, went to the Western country and Hananiah to Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. From Barber's His. Col. of New Jersey, page 108, we learn that Daniel Gauntt, of Long Island, about the year 1699, settled at Little Egg Harbor." - Bordentown Register.

There must have been a mistake about Daniel Gauntt's being settled in Little Egg Harbor as early as 1699. I do not think that Hananiah Gauntt, 1st, nor Israel his brother, could have had a son old enough to settle in Egg Harbor at the above date. Daniel Gauntt may have lived in Little Egg Harbor, but if he did it must have been several years after 1699. Hananiah Gauntt, 2d, did not settle in Egg Harbor until the year 1729, and at that date he was not married.

"We learn from the records of the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting that John Gauntt, of the township of Little Egg Harbor, was married to Jean Satterthwaite, the daughter of Samuel Satterthwaite, of Chesterfield, the 24th day of the 11th month, 1756.

From the same records we learn that Ananiah Gauntt, which should have been written Hananiah, early in the commencement of last century applied to the Monthly Meeting for permission to establish a Meeting at Little Egg Harbor.

The same record also shows that 1st mo. 1st, 1732-3, Ananiah Gauntt procured a certificate from the Monthly Meeting of Little Egg Harbor, concerning his own and wife's conversion, which was read and well approved of.

Soon after this he owned a house on the easterly side of Main street, northward of Graveyard alley, and in '42 he witnessed a deed for the property on which the late Uriah Bennett's store now stands, signing his name 'Hananiah.' He was one of the originators of Friends' Meeting at Bordentown, and in '36 was appointed, with others, to 'receive the deed and sign an acknowledgment of trust for the Quaker Meeting-house lot.' " - Bordentown Register.

John Gauntt, who in the year 1756 married Jean Satterthwaite, was the son of Hananiah Gauntt of Little Egg Harbor. Tradition says that John Gauntt married Jean Forsyth, but this record is positive proof that it was Jean Satterthwaite. The Ananiah Gauntt who applied for the establishment of a Meeting at Egg Harbor, must have been the first Hananiah, for the second Hananiah at that time must have been a mere boy.

The Ananiah Gauntt who in the year 1732-3 procured a certificate from the Monthly Meeting at Egg Harbor was the second Hananiah, and the certificate was to recommend his wife as a minister to the Chesterfield Meeting.

The Hananiah who owned a house on Graveyard alley, and in '42 witnessed a deed, and was one of the originators of the Friends' Meeting, at Bordentown, and in '36 was appointed with others to "receive the deed and sign an acknowledgement of trust for the Quaker Meeting-house lot," undoubtedly was the first Hananiah Gauntt.

"Zebulon remained on the farm and married, in 1716, Sophia Shourds, a lady of Germantown, Penna. She was the daughter of Cornelius Siorts or Shords, from Holland, one of the United Provinces. Shords was a stadholder in Holland, and married while there Sophia Weimar.

Sophia Gauntt's sister Sarah married Thomas Godfrey and was the mother of Thomas Godfrey, the inventor of the Quadrant. They (Zebulon Gauntt and wife) had six children, viz: Samuel, Zebulon, Israel, Hannah, Mary and Sophia. Hannah married Robert Ridgway, of Little Egg Harbor, and Mary married Jacob Gamble, of Bordentown, Zebulon, Jr., married Esther Woolman, daughter of Samuel Woolman, who was the son of John, who was the son of William Woolman from England. Zebulon, 2d, and his wife, and Israel and Sophia (who married Daniel Mathis) went to the Carolinas. Before their departure it was agreed between the three brothers, between whom there existed a strong affection, that Samuel, who remained in New Jersey, should add another 't' to the spelling of his name, so that the descendants of their father's branch (Zebulon 1st) should be known to each other. The Crosswicks records state that in '45 Zebulon 1st and Samuel Gauntt were appointed to take a new deed for the Upper Springfield Meeting-house land from Joshua Shreve. In '45 Samuel married 'Sara,' the daughter of John Black, whose wife's name was Sarah Rockhill. Samuel had two daughters by Sarah. Hannah married George Croshaw, and Sarah, Asa Shinn. Samuel married a second time, the last to Hannah Woolman, a sister of his brother Zebulon's wife. They had eight children, viz: Judah, Uz, Asher, Reuben, Elihu, Peter, Sarepta, and Elizabeth. Judah died at two years of age; Uz married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Jones; Asher, Mary Stockton, daughter of David Stockton, of New Jersey, whose wife was an Ireton, a lineal descendant of General Ireton, an eminent commander and statesman of the Parlimentary party in the civil wars of Charles I., and both from England. Reuben married Hannah Platt; Sarepta married Isaac Barton, and Elizabeth married Job Shreve.

The regularity of the names in this family attract attention, and in the "private record" the meaning or signification of the following proper names of the family is given:

Peter, a rock; Hannah, gracious; Hananiah, gift of the Lord; Israel, who prevails with God; Zebulon, dwelling, habitation; Daniel, judgment of God; Uz, counsel, wood; Asher, happiness; Samuel, ask of God; Reuben, the vision of the Son; Judah, the praise of the Lord; Elihu, he is my God himself; Esther, secret, hidden; Sarepta, a goldsmith's shop; Mahetable, how God is good; Mary, exalted.

Uz Gauntt was born in 1753, at Haninecon, where he died in 1839. Besides farming his plantation of nearly 500 acres he was an active surveyor. It is related of him that when engaged in laying out the Monmouth road, at a point near Mount Holly he met with determined opposition. After exhausting all argument and persuasion with the owners of the lands, he at last informed them he would run the road straight to Mount Holly if the line passed through the lower regions, which quieted the opposition.

Asher Gauntt, who was the son of Samuel and brother of Uz, as above stated, married Mary Stockton. The issue of this marriage were Samuel, Charles and Elihu Gauntt. Samuel Gauntt, M.D., died at Groveville, near Bordentown, in 1822, and was buried in the Friends' ground at Crosswicks. Charles Gauntt married Louisa Baker, the daughter of George A. Baker, of Philadelphia. In 1811, when war with Great Britain was expected, he was appointed a midshipman in the navy. He served aboard the brig of war 'Wasp' when she, on the 18th of October, 1812, captured the British brig 'Frolic,' which mounted four guns more. The action was a hard fought one, lasting 43 minutes, the 'Frolic' being carried by boarding. The 'Wasp' had ten and the 'Frolic' twenty killed and wounded. Lieut. Gauntt served in the South Pacific during the war of independence of the Spanish colonies, and in the Grecian Archipelago against the Greek pirates during their war of independence. After long and honorable sea service during which he rose to the rank of captain in the navy, he died and was buried in Philadelphia. He left two sons, Charles Stockton Gauntt, M.D., and Ireton Gauntt, who now resides in that city." - Bordentown Register.

Extracts from Mrs. B.'s Letters. - There is a cane in the family said to have been brought by Peter Gauntt from England, with the oldest son of every generation marked on it. It is a family tradition that he (Peter Gauntt) came in 1650, but the correctness of it we do not know.

Uz Gauntt was a very eccentric character. One of his peculiarities was never to sit at table to eat with any one, always taking his meals alone; another he never wore any dyed clothing, always black and white wool mixed. He predicted the moving of carriages over the land without horses. Upon being asked how they would go, he said "they would go smoking over the land." He had buttons for his clothes made of solid silver with his initials (U.G.) upon each button. The wedding clothes of his father, Samuel Gauntt, are now in possession of Charles S. Gauntt, in Burlington, and are in a perfect state of preservation. Uz Gauntt, who married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Jones, 15th 12th mo., 1790, and who lived and died on the original tract of land, had seven children, Samuel, Benjamin, Israel, Hannah, Elisha, Lewis and Jefferson.

Samuel Gauntt married Hannah, daughter of Aden Atkinson, of Lower Springfield. They had eight children: Aden, Sarah, Job, Mercy, Israel, John, Ridgway and Walter. Of the above, five are living in the Western States, two are dead, one, Ridgway, lives in Camden, N.J. Samuel Gauntt died in 1863.

Benjamin Gauntt married Susan, daughter of John Stokes, of Rancocas. They had twelve children: Elizabeth, Louisa, Uz, Asher, Elizabeth, Susan, Louisa, Franklin, Charles, Anna, Benjamin and Nathan. Of the above five are living, two in Philadelphia, two in Burlington, one in Juliustown. Benjamin Gauntt died in 1864. Israel Gauntt died unmarried in 1827, in the 30th year of his age.

Elisha Gauntt (my father) married Drusilla, daughter of Simeon Norcross, of Burlington. They had six children: Lewis, Sophia, John F., William, Martin and Caroline. Of the above two are dead. The others, one, John F., lives near Burlington, one, Sophia, in Bordentown, the other two at home with their father - Martin and Caroline.

Hannah Gauntt married Asa Shinn, of Springfield, whose mother was Uz Gauntt's sister. They had two children, who both died. Hannah Shinn died in 1834. Lewis Gauntt died at the age of thirteen.

Jefferson Gauntt married Mary, daughter of Joseph Harrison, from England. They had eight children: Theodore, Edward, Josephine, William, Lewis, Frederick, Ella, E. Pluribus and Unia - the last two were twins, born in 1861, at the breaking out of the rebellion.

Jefferson Gauntt was an eminent artist in New York, and was at one time negotiated with by the St. George's Society of New Jersey to go to England to paint a portrait of the Queen, but declined the honor. He died in 186_.

Elisha Gauntt is the only one of Uz Gauntt's children now living. He resides on a part of the old homestead, within a few hundred yards of where the first house was built by Hananiah Gauntt in 1685. He (Elisha) was born in 1800, was twice a member of the New York Legislature, is a perfect type of the first Hananiah, strong and healthy in body, sound in mind, seems fair for a long life, has his grandchildren living with him, who are the seventh generation that has lived on the land.

I have Zebulon Gauntt's marriage certificate, dated 4th mo. 17th, 1716, in a perfect state of preservation; also his certificate of the Burlington meeting to marry at Germantown. My father has a pair of buckskin breeches, also belonging to him; he has also a pocket compass said to have been brought from England by Peter Gauntt, in 1650. - End of Mrs. B.'s Statement.

I often see in the New Jersey Courier the name of Gauntt, and I suppose those who bear the name are the descendants of Israel Gauntt, who settled at Shrewsbury, N.J.

Daniel Gauntt's first wife's name was Hannah, and tradition said that they were the parents of Hananiah Gauntt, who settled in Egg Harbor; but recent inspection of ancient and authentic records establishes the fact that he was the son of the first Hananiah, who settled in Springfield in the year 1685, and that he was the brother of Zebulon Gauntt 1st, and also of Daniel Gauntt 1st. Tradition says that Hannah Gauntt, who married Robert Ridgway, and Sophia Gauntt, who married Daniel Mathis, (or as originally written Mathews,) were the sisters of Hananiah Gauntt, but authentic records say they were his brother Zebulon's children and therefore the nieces of Hananiah of Little Egg Harbor. I think that Jean Satterthwaite, who married John Gauntt of Little Egg Harbor, was a descendant of the Osborn family of Little Egg Harbor.

Sophia Shourds, who married Zebulon Gauntt 1st, had a brother Samuel, who settled in Little Egg Harbor, and was my (Leah Blackman's) great-great-grandfather, and Daniel Mathis, who married Sophia, daughter of Zebulon Gauntt 1st, was the son of great John Mathis, who was also my great-great-grandfather. Joshua Shreve, who in 1745 gave a new deed for the Upper Springfield Meeting-house, was my great-great-grandfather, and Aaron Ellis, of Upper Mansfield, was also a great-grandfather of mine. Samuel Andrews, of Upper Burlington, county was my great-great-great-great-grandfather, thus it will be seen that I have had numbers of grand parents in Upper Burlington county.

The Little Egg Harbor Branch of the Gauntt Family. - Hananiah Gauntt, who settled in Tuckerton in the township of Little Egg Harbor, was the son of Hananiah Gauntt 1st, who in the year 1685 settled at Haninicon, Springfield, Burlington county, N.J. Hananiah Gauntt 2d was born the 2d day of January, 1707. On the 13th day of the 9th month, 1729, he brought a certificate from the Burlington Monthly Meeting to the Monthly Meeting of Little Egg Harbor, and on the 10th day of the 7th month, 1730, he was married to Ann, daughter of Thomas Ridgway, Sr., of Little Egg Harbor.

Hananiah Gauntt settled (in what is now the village of Tuckerton,) on what had formerly been Edward Andrews' farm. He must have bought the farm of Jacob and Peter Andrews, to whom their father bequeathed the property. Hananiah was a tailor by trade, but devoted most of his time to his farm, making now and then a garment for those who called on him for that purpose. By his associates he was called "a comical genius," his cheerful and fun-loving disposition making him a pleasant companion for those who like a little spicy but innocent mirth. His customers or his visitors were not allowed to get the "blues" while they were in his cheerful company. It is said that when Hananiah Gauntt and Ann Ridgway, (the minister,) laid a proposal of marriage before the Meeting the members of the Society were greatly astonished that Ann Ridgway, the staid minister, should choose for a husband such a jovial man as Hananiah Gauntt. As his jollity was of an innocent and moral kind he was approved of as a candidate for matrimony and was greatly respected by the Friends of his time. Long after Hananiah had been laid beneath the green turf of the Friends' graveyard at Tuckerton people who had known Hananiah Gauntt related to others and laughed over the funny sayings and doings of the husband of Ann Gauntt, the distinguished Quaker minister. He was a man of considerable wealth and one of the most influential men in the place of his adoption. His house was a home for many of the Friends who came on religious visits, and having a large circle of kindred and other acquaintances, he, in consequence, had to entertain a great deal of company from Burlington and other sections. From an old person, now many years dead, I received the following account of the death of Hananiah Gauntt. He died about the close of the Revolutionary War. It was an unusually cold season. Mullica river was frozen over nearly all winter, and so thick was the ice that people crossed the river with sleds and horses without the least apprehension of danger. Hananiah Gauntt's death happened in this wise: He arose on one of the intense cold mornings of that severe winter went to his barn-yard to attend to his stock, after which he started to return to his house, but fell dead before he reached it. Henry Jacob Falkinburg, Jr., who was married near the time that Hananiah was, died about the same time.

As before stated, Hananiah Gauntt married Ann, daughter of Thomas Ridgway, Sr., and granddaughter of Richard Ridgway 1st, who came from England, and was also granddaughter of James Pharo, who came over in the ship "Shield." Ann Gauntt, Little Egg Harbor's most distinguished female Quaker minister, commenced her ministerial career during her girlhood, and went on religious tours before her marriage; after her marriage she performed many ministerial journeys, riding on horseback through the wildernesses of America. In the year 1728 (this was before her marriage) she went to Long Island. In 1742 again to Long Island; in 1743 to Rhode Island, in 1747 to Long Island and in 1756 to Salem, and other places within the limits of the Yearly Meeting; in 1765 she visited Pennsylvania; in 1772 she went to Long Island; in 1773 she visited Bucks county. Pa,; in 1775 again to Pennsylvania; in 1776 she and her niece, Ann Willits, visited Friends in Salem, Woodbury and Haddonfield. This appears to have been her last preaching tour. She lived to a good old age, and I have been informed by eye witnesses, that after she became old and so feeble that she could not stand up to preach, she would ride to the meeting house at Tuckerton, and would kneel and support herself by the back of the bench, and in that position preach for an hour or more, with an earnestness and power seldom equalled. A favorite text of hers, and one from which she often preached, was "Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little." She was a minister about sixty years. Ann Willits was a neice of Ann Gauntt's, and was also a minister in the Friends' Society. She outlived her aunt many years, and during her last illness, when life and the light of reason were passing away, she fancied herself preparing to go with Ann Gauntt on a ministerial journey to Long Island, where they used to go together to preach the gospel. The time soon came when she was called to depart with the "Pale Angel" to meet her co-minister and fellow traveler, and I fancy they met and joyfully greeted each other in a world where there is no need of performing tedious journeys to spread the "glad tidings of great joy," but where their voices will be employed in everlasting praise to Him who bade them (His faithful servants) sit down on his right hand, with shining crowns and spotless robes.

Besides being a minister Ann Gauntt was one of the old-time doctresses, and it is said that she was exceedingly industrious. It is related of her that she was a great knitter, and that she would rise from her bed at three o'clock in the morning and set up and commence to knit one of those long stockings that men of that time wore with breeches, the stockings reached above the knee in order to be fastened under the breeches, and that at twelve o'clock at night the stocking would be completed.

Hananiah Gauntt's children were John, Joseph, and tradition says that there were two daughters, Ann and Elizabeth, and that one married a Fosythe and the other a Pearsall. The Pearsalls lived on Long Island. If they were Hananiah's daughters, I believe from a meagre record that I have seen, that they did not marry until late in life.

John Gauntt was born the 2d day of July, 1734; and on the 24th of the 11th month, 1756, he married Jean Satterthwaite, daughter of Samuel Satterthwaite, of Chesterfield. John Gauntt's children were Samuel, Daniel, John, Elizabeth, Mary and Phoebe, and I have seen an account of a Jean Gauntt, who I believe was John's daughter.

Hananiah Gauntt divided his farm between his two sons; John had the homestead building and all of the land below Main street (Tuckerton) to Gauntt's Point on the Bay shore. Joseph had all of his father's possessions above Main street. At the time of John and Joseph Gauntt's residence in Tuckerton they were the two most prominent men of the place. John Gauntt was a strict Friend, and was a man of unblemished reputation. He finally removed to Haddonfield, selling his property to Ebenezer Tucker.

In the year 1761, Joseph Gauntt married Elizabeth - (some say Ridgway) of Upper Burlington county. Their children were Joseph, Hananiah, Abraham, Ann, Sarah and Elizabeth.

Joseph Gauntt built and lived in the mansion afterwards owned and occupied by Ebenezer Tucker during his life. After Joseph Gauntt's death his wife and all of his children, except Hananiah, Jr., removed to Warrington, York county. Pa. This was in the year 1787.

Hananiah, son of Joseph Gauntt, married Rebecca, daughter of Moses Mulliner. It is said they had ten children but I have not been able to learn the names of any of them except the following, viz.: Isaac, Hananiah, Mary, Moses and Reuben.

Isaac Gauntt married Susan Webb, and had children - Franklin, Hananiah, Mary, Rebecca, Phoebe and Hannah. Phoebe Gauntt married Wesley White, of Tuckerton, and has children - Charles, Norman, William, Franklin and Mary.

Mary, daughter of Hananiah Gauntt, who was a son of Joseph Gauntt, married a man by the name of Davis. They had two sons who were twins, John and Samuel. Their permanent residences are in Philadelphia, but John Davis has a summer residence on the confines of Tuckerton, where he and his family spend the summer months.

Hananiah Gauntt, grandson of Joseph Gauntt, married Mary, daughter of Stockton Rose. One of their children was Mary, wife of Captain James Andrews, of Tuckerton. There were other children but I cannot name them. After his first wife's death Hananiah married Abigail Atkinson. There were several children by this union but I do not know their names. One of the daughters married George W.L. Mathews, and resides in Mount Holly, and another daughter married Robert Mathews. Hananiah Gauntt, son of Joseph Gauntt, perished on Gauntt's Point, at the mouth of Tuckerton creek.

When John and Joseph Gauntt lived in Little Egg Harbor, they owned nearly all of that portion of Tuckerton which lies on the easterly side of the creek and mill pond.

From the first settlement of the Gauntts in England, it appears they were people of exalted standing and after their emigration to America it is evident throughout the different generations they married with respectable families. The Gauntts have no reason to be ashamed of their family record.

My great-great-grandfather, John Mathis, was the greatest landholder that ever lived in the township of Little Egg Harbor and I have in my possession a deed from Zebulon Gauntt, the 1st, to John Mathis. The deed is dated the 23d day of May, 1734, and is signed by Zebulon Gauntt, and with but one "t," and witnessed by Jeremiah Ong, James Rockhill and Samuel Scattergood. Zebulon got the land from his father, the first Hananiah, who purchased it in the year 1690. The above said John Mathis' son married the above named Zebulon Gauntt's daughter. In the year 1735 Robert Ridgway, son of Thomas Ridgway, of Little Egg Harbor, married Hannah, daughter of the first Zebulon Gauntt. Robert Ridgway had two children who lived to grow up, Joseph and Hannah. Joseph died a bachelor and Hannah married Timothy Pharo, Sr., who was the father of the late Timothy Pharo, of Tuckerton. All of Timothy Pharo, Sr.'s posterity are of the Gauntt blood, viz: Samuel Pharo's descendants, Robert Pharo's descendants, Timothy Pharo 2d's posterity, Japhet Leeds' do. and James Collins' do.

In the year 1743, Daniel, son of John Mathis, Sr., married Sophia, daughter of Zebulon Gauntt, Sr. Tradition says that the above said Sophia Gauntt was one of the greatest beauties of her time. Daniel Mathis was a sea captain, and followed the West India trade, and some time after his marriage he settled in North Carolina, where he has a numerous posterity, many of them people of wealth and distinction. It is probable that when Captain Daniel Mathis went to reside in the Carolinas, his brother-in-law, Zebulon 2d, and his family, and Israel, who must have been a brother of Zebulon, all emigrated together, and very likely they all embarked in Captain Mathis' vessel.

After Robert Ridgway's wife's death, her sister, Mary Gamble, or Gambo, as it is written in the Egg Harbor Monthly Meeting books, came to keep house for Robert Ridgway, where she remained until her death. It is said that she owned a farm at Barnegat, and that she gave it to her nephew, Samuel Pharo.